THIS WEEK
•The Southwest Minnesota State University football team (1-3, 0-3 NSIC) opens Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference South Division play on Saturday, Sept. 26, hosting Wayne State College (3-1, 2-1 NSIC) at Mattke Field at The Schwan Regional Event Center with kickoff set for 5 p.m.
•SMSU, which opened the season with a home victory versus Valley City State, has dropped its first three games of league play versus NSIC North Division foes.
•Saturday's game will be the first for SMSU interim head coach, Levi Bullerman, who was named to the position this past Sunday following the retirement of head coach, Scott Underwood.   
•Bullerman is in his ninth season on the SMSU coaching staff and fifth as defensive coordinator. He played at SMSU from 2005-09, was a four-year letter winner and three-year starter, playing in 44 games with 154 tackles and three interceptions. He served as team captain in 2009. 
•WSC is coming off a 44-7 home victory over Jamestown last Saturday. The Wildcats, 2-0 in road games this season, suffered their lone loss of the season two weeks ago at home to Minnesota Duluth, 20-13.  
•A preview of WSC is located on page 4. 

BROADCAST INFO
•Saturday's game will be broadcast on 105.1 FM KARL with 14th-year SMSU play-by-play voice Ryan Rohlik. 
•Live stats, radio broadcast (free) and video ($) can be found at SMSUmustangs.com.

SMSU vs. WSC Series Notes
Southwest Minnesota State and Wayne State meet for the 37th time with WSC leading 28-8 in a series that started on Nov. 1, 1969 ... WSC has won the last nine meetings and 10 of the last 11, including 51-6 last season in Wayne, Neb. ... WSC has won 18 of the last 23 meetings since 2002 ... WSC is 14-4 all-time in games played in Marshall, including 7-1 in games at The Schwan Regional Event Center ... SMSU's last victory in the series came on Oct. 20, 2015, in Wayne, 61-3 ... SMSU scored 39 or more points in five straight games from 2012-16, but has been held to 16 or less points in the last eight games.   

SMSU INTERIM HEAD COACH LEVI BULLERMAN
•Levi Bullerman was named interim head coach on Sept. 20. He is in his ninth season on the SMSU coaching staff and fifth as defensive coordinator. He also coaches the team's linebackers.
•He played linebacker at SMSU from 2005-09, where he was a four-year letter winner and three-year starter, playing in 44 games with 154 tackles and three interceptions. He served as team captain in 2009.
•Bullerman took over for Scott Underwood, who retired as head coach on Sept. 20. Underwood was in his fifth season as head coach with a record of 8-40. He was named the program's 11th head coach on Jan. 7, 2022. 

SMSU OPENING DRIVE TIDBITS
•SMSU used three quarterbacks in last week's loss at Minot State. Fifth year Macloud Crowton started and completed 8 of 18 passes for 53 yards. Junior Drew Kluender completed 4 of 10 passes for 61 yards, including completing a 45-yard pass to freshman Jayden Cooper. Sophomore Tommy Hoffman made his collegiate debut and completed 2 of 4 passes for 15 yards. All three quarterbacks threw one interception in the loss.
•Minot State held a 14-0 advantage midway through the second quarter before starting four consecutive touchdown drives to end the first half at the SMSU 36, 25, 23 and 23-yard lines. SMSU had two drives end via fumbles, along with an interception and a dropped snap on a punt attempt.  
•Sophomore linebacker Hunter Hanegraaf closed with a career-high 13 tackles with two for loss at Minot State. 
•Senior linebacker Aiden Planer finished with a career-high 10 tackles last Saturday. 
•Fifth year defensive tackle Julius Brown recorded a career-high five tackles in the loss at Minot State. 
•Freshman wide receiver Jayden Cooper caught two passes for 49 yards, including a career-high 45-yard reception last Saturday.
•For the season, sophomore running back Josh Lancifort leads SMSU in rushing with 132 yards on 47 carries.
•Senior wide receiver Tryg Auten has caught a team-high 17 passes for 163 yards.
•Crowton has completed 59 of 133 passes for 526 yards with four interceptions. 
•Junior safety Keegan Patterson leads the team with three interceptions.
•Hanegraaf has racked up a team-high 35 tackles with 6.5 for loss. 
•Planer ranks second on the squad with 22 tackles, including four for loss. 
•Fifth year defensive end Avery Johnson ranks tied for second on the team with four tackles for loss. 
•SMSU had seven players on defense and three on offense make their first career collegiate starts in the victory over Valley City State on Aug. 27. 
•The SMSU defense, which recorded a pair of interceptions in the win over Valley City State, limited VCSU to 26 yards rushing. It was the first time SMSU held an opponent to less than 50 yards rushing since the final game of the 2009 season. 
•Crowton started at quarterback in the season-opening victory versus VCSU. It was the first time since 2018 that SMSU had the same quarterback start the first game of the season in back-to-back seasons. Blake Gimbel was the last Mustang to start back-to-back season openers in 2017 and 2018. 

SMSU & WSC IN THE 2026 NCAA RANKINGS
•The following is where SMSU and WSC rank in this week's NCAA statistics.
•A full listing of SMSU in the NCAA statistics can be found on pages 16-17. 
             (159 teams ranked)     SMSU    WSC     
             Scoring Offense    158th    65th
             Rushing Offense    156th    41st    
             Passing Offense    126th    98th    
             Total Offense    153rd    65th     
             Scoring Defense    123rd    33rd
             Rushing Defense    122nd    104th 
             Pass Defense    109th    10th 
             Pass Efficiency Defense    120th     15th
             Total Defense    128th    36th     
             Net Punting     55th    20th 
             Punt Returns     56th     25th
             Kickoff Returns     99th    93rd    
             Turnover Margin     152nd     38th
             Fewest Penalty Yards/Gm.     20th      87th     
             Time of Possession     139th    118th 
             3rd Down Conversions     156th    82nd
             3rd Down Conversion Defense    75th    4th

TEAM CAPTAINS FOR 2026
•The SMSU football leadership council and team will select four game captains each week for the 2026 season.

THE 2026 SMSU ROSTER
•The SMSU roster (as of Sept. 22) features 112 players with nine fifth-year players, 11 seniors, 28 juniors, 30 sophomores and 34 freshmen. 

TURNOVER MARGIN BY THE NUMBERS
•SMSU is 'minus-8' in turnover margin following four weeks.
•SMSU was 'plus-1' in the win over Valley City State, but was 'minus-3' in the setback at Bemidji State, 'minus-1' versus Northern State and 'minus-5' last week at Minot State. 
•SMSU finished 'minus-9' in turnover margin last season.
•The SMSU defense forced a least one turnover in every game last season and forced two or more in six games.

MUSTANGS IN THE 'ZONE'
•SMSU has scored on 3 of 8 trips (37.5) inside the red zone this season with one touchdown and two field goals. 
•SMSU has failed to score in five red zone trips with via three missed field goals and two turnover on downs. 
•SMSU opponents are 13 of 15 in the red zone with 10 touchdowns and three field goals. 
•The following is SMSU in the 'red zone' since the 2010 season.
    Year    Red-Zone    TD    FG
    2010    22 of 30 (73.3)    22    0
    2011    35 of 41 (85.4)    29    6
    2012    30 of 37 (81.1)    25    5
    2013    49 of 57 (86.0)    40    9
    2014    35 of 43 (81.4)    26    8
    2015    39 of 50 (78.0)    36    3
    2016    38 of 45 (84.4)    37    1
    2017    24 of 37 (64.9)    18    6
    2018    28 of 37 (75.7)    23    5
    2019     22 of 29 (75.9)    19    3
    2021    20 of 29 (69.0)    16    4
    2022    20 of 33 (60.6)    17    3
    2023    17 of 30 (56.6)    14    3
    2024    7 of 14 (50.0)    5    2
    2025    19 of 25 (76.0)    15    4
    2026    3 of 8 (37.5)    1    2

LONG PLAYS FOR THE MUSTANGS
•SMSU has recorded 13 offensive/defensive plays or kick/punt returns of 20 or more yards this season with five coming from the offense (0 run, 5 pass).
•Drew Kluender's 45-yard pass to Jayden Cooper at Minot State is the longest pass play of the season.
•Kluender has the longest rush from scrimmage, 17 yards, at Minot State. 
•Aiden Planer's 37-yard interception return versus Valley City State is the second longest play from scrimmage. 
•The following are SMSU's 'long plays' since 2010.
'Long' plays (20 yards or more) since 2010
    Year    No.    TD    Run    Pass    KR    PR    IR    FR
    2010    61    14    10    32    18    0    0    1
    2011    60    8    13    22    23    1    1    0
    2012    66    20    18    28    19    1    0    0
    2013    125    30    28    51    41    1    2    2
    2014    71    12    15    27    21    3    5    0
    2015    78    18    13    39    18    5    3    0
    2016    93    21    15    40    33    1    3    1
    2017    68    10    12    28    25    1    1    1 
    2018    70    15    8    51    7    2    2    0
    2019    56    12    4    37    12    1    2    0
    2021    42    6    8    18    10    1    2    3
    2022    51    14    14    23    13    0    1    0
    2023    50    9    8    29    11    1    1    0
    2024    48    6    7    15    18    1    6    1
    2025    55    5    2    34    19    0    0    0
    2026    13    0    0    5    7    0    1    0

2026 NSIC PRESEASON POLL
•SMSU was picked to finish 14th overall and seventh in the NSIC South Division in the annual 14-team NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll. 
•Mustang senior quarterback Macloud Crowton and senior defensive lineman Avery Johnson were tabbed a 'Player to Watch' in the NSIC.

MUSTANGS AT HOME
•The 2026 season is the 18th year that Mattke Field at The Schwan Regional Event Center has served as the home for SMSU football. 
•SMSU is 33-63 all-time at the stadium, including 1-1 this season. SMSU's season opening win over Valley City State snapped an 11-game home losing streak. 
•New turf was installed at the stadium in the summer of 2022. 
•The $16 million facility opened in the fall of 2008 with the first college football game played on Aug. 30 versus Minnesota Crookston.  

MUSTANGS ON THE ROAD
•Since the 2016 season, SMSU is 11-41 in road games, including 0-2 this season.
•SMSU's last season with a winning road record occurred in 2015 (5-1). 

SMSU VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS
•SMSU is 1-34 all-time versus Division II Top 25 teams, including 0-3 last season after losing at Minnesota Duluth on Oct. 4 at home to Augustana on Oct. 25 and at Minnesota State on Nov. 1. 
•SMSU's lone victory versus a ranked team came in the 2016 season opener versus No. 19 Minnesota Duluth (42-38) in Marshall.

WORKING OVERTIME
•SMSU is 5-8 all-time in overtime games since the NCAA added overtime in 1998.
•SMSU's last overtime game occurred on Sept. 24, 2022, with a 27-20 home victory over Minot State.
•SMSU is 1-3 in multi-overtime contests. 
•The program's last multi-overtime game was a 34-31 double overtime loss at Minnesota State on Oct. 13, 2012.

SEASON & HOME OPENER INFORMATION
•SMSU is now 23-35 all-time in season openers after defeating Valley City State to open the 2026 campaign. 
•SMSU is 2-7 in its last nine home openers defeating VCSU this season and Concordia-St. Paul in 2022. 

MUSTANG HISTORY
•The 2026 season is the 59th year of college football at SMSU and 58th season of competition (2020 was canceled) dating to 1968.
•SMSU owns an all-time record of 211-382-5, including 148-282-5 in conference play. 
•SMSU has recorded 10 winning seasons with two NAIA playoff appearances (1987 and 1991) and one Mineral Water Bowl appearance (2013). SMSU's last winning season came in 2015. 
•The program earned its lone conference championship in 1990.

SCOUTING WAYNE STATE
•Logan Masters is in his fifth season as head coach with a record of 34-15. He was an assistant coach at WSC (2010-16, 20-21) and was also an assistant coach at Chadron State (2017-19).   
•Fifth-year running back Dawson Forgy has amassed 455 yards rushing with six touchdowns on 73 carries. He rushed for 92 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries in the win over Jamestown last Saturday. 
•Junior quarterback Brady McGill has completed 54 of 98 passes for 729 yards with six touchdowns and one interception. 
•Senior tight end Keaten Bonderson leads the receiving corps with 12 receptions for 247 yards and two touchdowns.
•Fifth-year linebacker Kaden Johnson has amassed 30 tackles with three for loss to pace the Wildcat defense.
•Fifth-year defensive back Clyde Hinton has 26 tackles with five for loss and two sacks. 
•The WSC defense has racked up five interceptions.